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UK MORNING BRIEFING: ABF Gains Despite Repeating Sugar Price Warning(Alliance News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares are flat to higher Wednesday following a firm close in the US. Several UK blue-chips and mid-caps - including Reed Elsevier, ARM Holdings and MoneySupermarket.com - sought to provide reassurance about their outlooks early Wednesday, though shares in Moneysupermarket and ARM both have opened lower. Associated British Foods again warned about sugar prices but is up 8.7% in early trade.Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:----------MARKETS----------FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 6,688.64FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 16,062.62AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 823.82----------Hang Seng: down 0.9% at 22,526.52Nikkei 225: closed up 1.1% at 14,546.27DJIA: closed up 0.4% at 16,514.37S&P 500: closed up 0.4% at 1,879.55----------GBP-USD: down at USD1.6800EUR-USD: flat at USD1.3802GOLD: down at USD1,284.21 per ounceOIL (Brent): flat at USD109.37 a barrel(changes since end of previous GMT day)----------ECONOMICS AND GENERAL----------Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come (all times British Summer Time)08:58 EU Markit Manufacturing, Services and Composite PMI Preliminary 09:30 UK Bank of England Minutes and MPC Vote09:30 UK Public Sector Net Borrowing 11:00 UK CBI Industrial Trends Survey 14:45 US Markit Manufacturing PMI Preliminary 15:00 US New Home Sales15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks change ----------An index monitoring manufacturing activity in China posted a score of 48.3 in April, the latest survey from HSBC and Markit Economics revealed. That was in line with forecasts and up from 48.0 in March - although the index remains below the boom-or-bust score of 50 that separates expansion in a sector from contraction.----------Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said inflation may exceed the official estimate in the fiscal year ended March. Consumer price inflation was slightly higher in fiscal 2013 that the central bank's projection of 0.7%, he told a parliamentary session on Wednesday. The economy is still on track toward achieving stable 2% inflation. ----------Failure to find debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet has prompted searchers in the Indian Ocean to rethink their tactics, news reports said. Unless an underwater search comes up with evidence of wreckage from flight MH370 in "the next few days" there will be a pause for a reassessment of the likelihood of finding a trace of the Boeing 777, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, quoting sources close to the investigation.----------US President Barack Obama on Tuesday toured the area devastated by a mudslide a month ago in Washington state. Obama took a helicopter ride over the town of Oso, which was buried when the side of a 1.5 kilometre, rain-drenched mountain gave way on March 22, killing at least 41 people.----------The death toll in the sinking of a South Korean ferry reached 128 Wednesday, the coast guard said, while the first distress call from the ship came from a passenger's mobile phone, CNN reported. Navy, coast guard and civilian divers were working to recover bodies from cabins on decks three and four and from a cafeteria on deck three of the Sewol, the Yonhap News Agency reported.----------BROKER RATING CHANGES---------JEFFERIES INITIATES PREMIER FOODS WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 90 PENCE----------DEUTSCHE BANK RAISES GLAXOSMITHKLINE PRICE TARGET TO 1750 (1620) PENCE - 'HOLD'----------NOMURA RAISES LLOYDS TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 89 (81) PENCE----------TRADERS: CREDIT SUISSE RAISES WOLSELEY TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL'); PUTS WOLSELEY ON 'EUROPE FOCUS LIST'----------BARCLAYS RAISES THOMAS COOK TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('EQUAL WEIGHT') - PRICE TARGET 230 PENCE----------COMPANIES - FTSE 100----------ARM Holdings PLC said that, assuming the semiconductor industry improves in the second half as it expects, it remained confident it would meet market expectations for dollar revenues in 2014. The semiconductor company posted pretax profit of GBP97.1 million in the first quarter to the end of March, up from GBP89.4 million a year before, as revenue rose to GBP186.7 million from GBP170.3 million in the previous year.----------Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC said it has been awarded a USD39 million contract to support AE 1107C engines for V-22 aircraft operated by the US Marine Corps and Air Force. The company, which operates through two main business segments - Aerospace and Marine & Industrial Power Systems - said the MissionCare contract is an upgraded version of a previous agreement with the Marines and Air Force. ----------BHP Billiton Ltd announced that it officially opened its new Jimblebar iron ore mine 40 kilometres east of Newman in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. ----------Reed Elsevier Reaffirms Full Year Outlook; Says Underlying Revenue Growth Rates In Q1 In Line With FY 2013----------Oil giant BP PLC Tuesday said it has agreed to sell interests in four BP-operated oilfields on the North Slope of Alaska to Hilcorp, a privately-held independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. The sale agreement includes all of BP's interests in the Endicott and Northstar oilfields and a 50% interest in the Liberty and the Milne Point fields. The sale also includes the company's interests in the oil and gas pipelines associated with these fields. BP said it remains committed to its plans for increased investment at Prudhoe Bay. ----------Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC was Tuesday fined HKD6.0 million by Hong Kong regulators as a result of internal control failures relating to detecting and preventing unauthorised trading by its emerging-markets rates business in Hong Kong. The fine by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission follows an investigation into the systems and controls of the UK bank's emerging markets rates desk in 2011 after unauthorised trading by one of its traders was discovered.----------COMPANIES - FTSE 250----------MoneySupermarket.com Group PLC said its overall expectations for the year are unchanged after reporting an increase in first-quarter revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation. In a statement, the price comparison website said first-quarter revenue increased by 8%, while EBITDA increased by 5%. Administrative costs were in line with the corresponding quarter last year, while offline marketing costs were in about 20% ahead of the same period last year in order to support new MoneySuperMarket and TravelSuperMarket advertising campaigns.----------Polymer products manufacturer Fenner PLC reported a drop in pretax profit for the first half, saying it was hurt by sterling's gains against all major currencies in which its revenues are generated. The company posted pretax profit of GBP17.6 million for the six months to February 28, down from GBP26.1 million a year earlier, as revenue dropped 8.1% to GBP359.8 million from GBP391.3 million a year earlier. On a constant currency basis, Fenner said the revenue decline was only 3%.----------IP Group PLC took another step towards integrating Fusion IP PLC, which was acquired in March, appointing the company's previous chief executive to the position of group chief operating officer. In a statement, IP Group, which works with university partners to commercialise intellectual property, said it has appointed David Baynes to the role, having already appointed him to the group's board after the Fusion IP acquisition completed in March.----------Spirent Communications Says Current Trading In Line With Expectations; Q1 Revenue USD111.9M Vs USD96.8M----------Kentz Corp Wins USD125M 5-Yr Contract In Kuwait; Says Contract With Fluor Kuwait Company Will See It Supplement The Local Provider's Manpower----------COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM----------Associated British Foods PLC reported an increase in its profit for the first half of the year, driven primarily by sales at its low-cost fashion retail chain Primark, which more than offset a substantial hit to its sugar business. The food, ingredients and retail group raised its interim dividend by 4% to 9.70 pence per share, as its increased its pretax profit to GBP434 million in the 24 weeks ended March 1, up from GBP411 million a year earlier. ABF continues to warn that the lower sugar prices will "substantially" reduce its sugar profit for this year, and if the current strength of the sterling persists, will also hit its overseas results in the second half of the year. ----------Fitbug Signs 2-Year Agreement With US's Griffin Int'l To Be Its Sales Representative To Walmart, Target, Best Buy; Names Malcolm Fried As CEO, Replacing David Turner; Says Fried Was Formerly Head Of Bloomberg's London Business Unit; Says Turner Will Remain As Non-Executive Director; Chairman Fergus Kee To Revert To Non-Executive----------Max Petroleum Says Successful Appraisal Well At East Kyzylzhar I; Says KZIE-5 Appraisal Well Reaches 1,295 Metre Vertical Depth; Says KZIE-5 Reservoir Quality Excellent, Porosities Range 18%-35%----------Rare Earth Minerals Says Independent Party Confirms Bacanora Can Produce Battery-Grade Lithium Carbonate----------Sanderson Group Says Half Year Revenue Up 20% To Just Over GBP7.9M From GBP6.4M; Half-Year Like-For-Like Revenue Growth Was Over 4%; Order Book At March 31 GBP2.5M Vs GBP1.6M Year Earlier----------Flybe Group Signs 5-Year Deal With London City Airport To Commence Domestic, International Operations----------Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMsMoneySupermarket.comManagement Consulting GroupDrax Groupstv groupDragon OilSpirent CommunicationsHammersonBiome TechnologiesCambria Africa---------- Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. 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